A government is an institution that holds a monopoly on the legitimate use of violence.
Max WeberRead
The fate of an epoch that has eaten of the tree of knowledge is that it must...recognize that general views of life and the universe can never be the products of increasing empirical knowledge, and that the highest ideals, which move us most forcefully, are always formed only in the struggle with other ideals which are just as sacred to others as ours are to us.
Interpretation
What this quote means
This quote emphasizes the complexity of knowledge and the importance of understanding differing ideals in shaping our views on life and the universe.
Max Weber's quote suggests that while empirical knowledge can expand our understanding, it cannot provide definitive answers about existence or universal truths. Instead, he asserts that our highest ideals are shaped through a dialogue and struggle with contrasting ideals that others hold dear. This highlights the need for empathy and acknowledgment of diverse perspectives in our pursuit of meaning and understanding.
Themes
KnowledgeIdealsUnderstandingPerspectivesPhilosophy
In practice
Example use cases
This quote can be used in a speech about the importance of tolerance and understanding in a multicultural society.
More from Max Weber
All quotes →'Culture' is a finite segment of the meaningless infinity of the world process, a segment on which human beings confer meaning and significance.
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The modern view of criminal justice, broadly, is that public concern with morality or expediency decrees expiation for the violation of a norm; this concern finds expression in the infliction of punishment on the evil doer by agents of the state, the evil doer, however, enjoying the protection of a regular procedure.
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The fate of our times is characterized by rationalization and intellectualization and, above all, by the 'disenchantment of the world.' Precisely the ultimate and most sublime values have retreated from public life either into the transcendental realm of mystic life or into the brotherliness of direct and personal human relations. It is not accidental that our greatest art is intimate and not monumental.
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The purely emotional form of Pietism is, as Ritschl has pointed out, a religious dilettantism for the leisure class.
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Power is the chance to impose your will within a social context, even when opposed and regardless of the integrity of that chance.
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